


Don't Call It Love

by whichclothes



Series: Kansasverse [2]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-24
Updated: 2010-04-24
Packaged: 2017-10-09 03:04:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/82335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whichclothes/pseuds/whichclothes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-series, ignoring comics. Sequel to <a href="http://whichclothes.livejournal.com/134015.html">Wichita</a>. Riley isn't sure how serious their relationship is, and then a demon gets involved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

  
  
  
**Entry tags:** |   
[don't call it love](http://whichclothes.livejournal.com/tag/don%27t%20call%20it%20love), [xander/riley](http://whichclothes.livejournal.com/tag/xander/riley)  
  
---|---  
  
_**Don't Call It Love (1 of 2)**_  
**Title:** Don't Call It Love   
**Part: **1 of 2   
**Pairing:** Xander/Riley   
**Rating:** NC-17   
**Disclaimer:** I'm not Joss   
**Summary:** Post-series, ignoring comics. Sequel to [Wichita](http://whichclothes.livejournal.com/134015.html). Riley isn't sure how serious their relationship is, and then a demon gets involved.   
**AN: **For [](http://community.livejournal.com/maleslashminis/profile)[**maleslashminis**](http://community.livejournal.com/maleslashminis/) . Written for delilah_joy , who wanted this: Lust spell (or something similar), Xander working construction, Giles involved in the story somehow. The fic's in two parts due to length. Thank you to [](http://sentine.livejournal.com/profile)[**sentine**](http://sentine.livejournal.com/)  for the wonderful banner!

[ ](http://pics.livejournal.com/whichclothes/pic/000b3fw2/)  
---  
  
**Don’t Call It Love**

 

They weren’t officially living together. But more evenings than not they ended up on Riley’s couch—he had the bigger TV—watching something with explosions or spaceships, eating potato chips, and fooling around a little. They didn’t call it cuddling. Cuddling was for girls.

Xander would be the first to start yawning. He had to be up very early to make it to the construction site by daybreak. And as often as not he’d announce that he was too tired to walk the mile to his place, and they’d squash together into Riley’s too-narrow bed. Not that the narrowness or the squashing was a bad thing. And then they’d have sex. When they referred to the act at all, they’d call it fucking or boinking, or they’d use euphemisms like “getting busy” or “knocking boots,” phrases that sounded more like work than pleasure. Most of the time they just called it really frigging amazing, because once they’d got past the awkward, inexperienced fumbles and figured out the unfamiliar topography, they found their way to a sweaty, mind-boggling ecstasy. They never called it making love, and if sometimes Riley thought of it that way, he kept those thoughts to himself.

Two months after they found each other, Xander bought a little house. It was just down the street from his apartment. It looked like a complete dump to Riley, but Xander said it had good bones and was worth salvaging. Riley was secretly thrilled, because buying a house meant some kind of permanency; it meant Xander might have the intention of sticking around even once his office building was complete.

So on weekends they’d work on Xander’s house. Riley wasn’t actually very good at construction. He said it was because his hands had been trained for more delicate work involving triggers and blades and fuses and keyboards, but in reality it was mostly because he’d end up too distracted. Distracted by Xander, who would work in nothing more than a pair of cut-off jeans and boots, with a blue bandana tied around his head to keep the salt from his eye. His muscles would bunch and flex under tanned skin, his entire body moving as confidently as a dancer’s, and Riley would end up hammering his own thumb or spilling paint onto the parched lawn. Then Xander would just grin at him crookedly, and that only distracted Riley more.

It didn’t help any that Xander was noisy while he worked. Riley’s father had been a fifth generation farmer, and he had taught Riley that work was a grim thing, a constant struggle between a man and starvation. Riley’s time in the military, too, had emphasized the fact that a job must be taken seriously and approached without humor or joy and with grim determination. Of course, selling cars was different—his customers appreciated smiles and joking, a good old boy charm—but that was a part he was playing, a role he took on every day as he strode into the showroom. But Xander laughed and sang off-key while he worked. He teased and whistled and did terrible imitations of TV and movie characters. Xander had fun. And, gradually, so did Riley, even if he kept on tripping over things and dropping armfuls of PVC pipes.

In the middle of July, Riley’s boss sent him to Kansas City for a sales meeting. Riley didn’t especially want to go—even four days away from Xander suddenly seemed like an eternity—but he didn’t have much choice. Besides, Xander was at some particularly tricky point with the office building and had been putting in very long days at the site, so they wouldn’t have seen much of each other in any case. The night before Riley left they had a particularly intense session between the sheets, so that when they were done they were both limp as soggy noodles and pleasantly sore all over, and Riley had to pat his head to make sure his skull was still intact.

The meeting was long and boring. Men in suits or polo shirts droned on about sales targets and the Taurus’s newest features. In the evenings Riley dragged himself back to his lonely bed at the Comfort Inn—the bed was much too wide and empty for him—and jacked off to daydreams of Xander reframing windows. But on his final night in Kansas City, Riley went for a walk, and he found himself entering a tiny shop just off Westport Road. He wasn’t sure what drew him in there, but as soon as he saw the proprietor he tensed. The guy was short and wizened, with a few sprigs of gray hair sticking up from his head and a nose like a beak. Most people would assume he was only an elderly man who’d probably been odd-looking even in his youth, but Riley knew the truth. This was a demon.

Riley hadn’t anticipated encountering demons here and he wasn’t armed. His fists bunched up at his sides and he wondered whether he could take the creature on anyway. But the demon just smiled at him, revealing toothless gums. “Good evening, sir. Something I can help you with?” His voice was light and musical, like a bird’s trill.

“I, uh….” Riley looked around. It seemed to be an antique shop of sorts, with small tables sporting little curios of various shapes and sizes. It was the kind of place that made Riley feel enormous, as if he could send the whole place into complete disarray with one careless move. “I’m just browsing.”

“Of course. Take your time.”

Riley wanted to just leave, but the demon was watching him with bright little eyes, and it seemed rude to not at least poke around for a few minutes. So he picked up a china statue of something that wasn’t quite a dog and then put it down again, and ran his fingers over a dusty picture frame that might have been pewter, and carefully poked at a set of teacups that reminded him of his grandmother. He’d made his way to the very back of the shop, where the demon stood next to a glass-stopped case, when something inside the case caught Riley’s eye.

It was a pendant set on a black leather cord. The pendant was made of some kind of dark, shiny stone, and it was shaped like an arrow, with tiny little lines inscribed in it that he thought might be some Asian language, but he wasn’t certain. Riley had a sudden, vivid image of the way that pendant would look on Xander’s broad, brown chest, the stone just level with Xander’s nipples. The cord would match that of the eyepatch Xander wore when he was out in public.

“Ah, I see something has caught your interest,” the demon said, and Riley startled slightly.

“Uh, yeah. That’s a nice necklace.”

The demon smiled. “Yes. It would look lovely on you, or…a fine gift for a friend, yes?”

Riley felt very uncomfortable. He didn’t like dealing with demons to begin with, and this one seemed unnaturally aware of what Riley was thinking. Plus, he and Xander hadn’t exchanged gifts of any kind, and he couldn’t imagine handing over a jewelry box with a bow on it. But he couldn’t shake that vision of Xander, the way the pendant would move up and down with his lover’s breaths, how the smoothness of the stone would contrast with the wiriness of the little patch of dark hair on Xander’s chest. “How much?” he said.

The demon moved behind the case and opened the back of it. He lifted the necklace out and then set it on top of the glass. Hesitantly, Riley picked it up. The stone shined dully in the shop’s lights.

“Three hundred dollars,” the demon said. “Including tax.”

Riley swallowed. It was kind of a lot of money. It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford it. He did fairly well at the dealership and he’d been pretty tight with his paychecks. And it wasn’t that he was afraid of getting ripped off. Sure, as far as he knew, the thing was manufactured in a factory in China and was worth $1.98. But he was certain it would look magnificent on Xander, and that was enough. But giving such an expensive present seemed…presumptuous. Like he was seeing more in their relationship than was really there. It might even scare Xander away. But then he reminded himself that Xander didn’t need to know how much the necklace cost. Riley could imply he picked it up at a gas station, where it had been displayed right next to the cigarette lighters and energy pills.

Riley forked over his MasterCard. The demon gave him a pale pink grin and put the necklace in a white paper bag. “Enjoy, sir,” he said as Riley left the store.

 

***

 

It was just past sunset when Riley arrived back in Wichita. He detoured by Xander’s house on the way home, telling himself he just wanted to see whether Xan was home yet. But when he saw the beat-up old Chevy parked in the driveway (and he was going to have to do something about that truck one of these days, he thought) he found himself pulling up behind it.

Xander was still wearing his work clothes and he smelled like spackle and tomato sauce. He greeted Riley with a huge smile and an even bigger hug, and Riley had to bite back a moan of contentment when those arms wrapped around him. “Impeccable timing,” Xander said, tugging him toward the kitchen. “Pizza just got here. Beer’s in the fridge.”

“You got a fridge!” Riley exclaimed. Xander had been living out of a cooler for the past three weeks.

“I did. I’ve now entered the twentieth century. Someday I may make it to the twenty-first.” Xander exchanged a paper plate with a slice of pepperoni on it for a can of Coors. “So how was the big, important sales confab?”

“Thrilling. I have the 411 on all the latest top secret Ford stuff now.”

“Top secret, huh? Are you sworn to silence?”

“On pain of death.”

Xander walked up very close to him and touched the beer can to Riley’s neck. It was hot in the house—the AC wasn’t functional yet—and the cold metal felt good. “I bet I could get those secrets out of you,” Xander said, his voice low and raspy. “With the right kind of persuasion.”

Riley swallowed a bite of pizza and set his plate on the counter. “No way. You’d have to torture me.”

Xander set the can down, too, and then licked along Riley’s neck. Riley couldn’t quite suppress a shiver, which made Xander chuckle into his skin. “I can do torture. I can do really _evil_ torture.” And he bit lightly at Riley’s jaw. “Did I tell you I was possessed by a hyena once?”

“You had the weirdest childhood ever.”

Xander laughed. Now their groins were pressed together, both of them already achingly hard. Xander began to unbutton Riley’s shirt. But when his hand brushed against Riley’s shirt pocket, he paused. “What’s that?”

Riley remembered then that he’d folded the little paper bag and tucked it in his shirt. Shit. He’d meant to wait for some sort of gift-giving occasion. Oh well. He pulled the bag out and pressed it into Xander’s hand. “Happy un-birthday.”

“A present? For me?” Xander looked so delighted that Riley wondered when was the last time someone had given Xander anything.

“It’s, uh, just a little thing.” Riley hoped he wasn’t blushing too badly.

But Xander had already taken the necklace out of the bag and was holding it up, letting the pendant swing slightly in front of his face. “Is this really for me?”

“You don’t have to—If you don’t like it, it’s no big deal. I won’t be offended or anything if you don’t wear it.”

“No! I mean, I love it. It’s great.” He slipped it over his neck and the pendant lay dark and shining against his gray t-shirt. “Thanks, Ri.” He pressed in close again and they kissed. Riley loved the way Xander’s end of the day stubble felt against his skin.

It didn’t take long after that before they were both in Xander’s bed—he’d bought a new one, Riley noticed, a king—Riley completely naked and Xander wearing only his necklace. After some fairly urgent rubbing and kissing and fondling, Xander retrieved a bottle of lube from beside the bed, tossed it to Riley, and then scrambled onto all fours. He looked over his shoulder expectantly.

The actualities of gay sex had been new to both of them a few months ago. Xander turned out to be pretty knowledgeable about a lot of things, though—he’d given credit to Anya for that—and they’d filled in the rest of the blanks via porn and eager experimentation. Happily enough, they’d discovered that they were both equally willing to top or bottom. It still gave Riley a thrill, though, to see that gorgeous ass in front of him, to touch it and lick it. So he tried to take things slowly, but Xander was in an insistent mood, and Riley wasn’t feeling especially patient either. Soon he was fully sheathed in that impossibly tight channel, and he and Xander were grunting and swearing and pounding at each other, both of them grateful they didn’t have to be quiet any more for the neighbors’ sake.

Xander climaxed first, but Riley came right after. Then they lay side by side trying to calm their breathing. “Welcome home,” Xander said.

“That was worth going away for.”

Before they could doze off, though, Xander’s stomach rumbled. “Sorry,” he laughed. “Still hungry. Want me to bring you some?”

Riley couldn’t possibly say no to pizza and beer in bed. When they’d both eaten, they took turns in the shower. Xander was going to redo the bathroom completely and put in a big, walk-in shower, but now there was only a tiny, slightly mildewy stall. Still slightly damp, they crawled back into bed together. With Xander snoring beside him, Riley slept better than he had in days.

 

***

 

The next day was Saturday and they slept in. When they did finally wake up, they lazily made lo—had sex. Eventually they threw some clothing on and went to the hardware store, where Xander filled the back of Riley’s truck with boxes of laminate flooring. They had a quick lunch at a drive-through and spent the afternoon tearing up the ugly, cat-piss-smelling carpeting in the living room. Xander had already removed the baseboards when he’d painted the walls a light beige color. Now he explained that they couldn’t actually lay the Pergo for a few days—it had to acclimate to the room—but they opened the boxes and scrubbed the floorboards and hammered a few loose ones to the joists.

By then it was late, so they again took turns showering and headed over to Lord’s. They had a regular waitress already, a middle-aged woman named Lorna who would bring them each a bottle of beer as soon as they were seated. “What’s it gonna be tonight, boys?” She had curly, graying hair that was always in the middle of escaping from the barrettes she used.

“Burger and fries,” Xander said.

“Same for me,” said Riley.

“Real adventurous, boys.”

Riley smiled at her. “Just wait. Someday we’ll surprise you.”

Lorna snorted and moved off towards the kitchen.

Riley sipped at his beer. “I’m gonna drop you off after dinner and then head home. I’ve run out of clean clothes, and I guess I should make sure the place is still standing.”

“No prob. I’m kind of beat anyway. Are you busy tomorrow?”

“Nope. Need more incompetent free labor?”

Xander leaned back in his chair. “Actually, I was thinking about taking a day off for a change. This guy at work, Johnny McNair, he says you can rent canoes down by the river. I thought that kind of sounded like fun.”

“Sure. Sounds great.”

Now Xander was playing with the label on his bottle, tearing off tiny little strips and rolling them into miniscule balls. “Um. I was also thinking.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“Probably is.” He scratched at his head and then stared carefully at the light fixture over their heads. “But I was thinking _and_ wondering. And, uh, pondering.”

“About anything in particular?”

“Yup.”

There was a brief pause. “Care to share?” Riley finally asked.

Xander let out a long, noisy breath. “Okay. So you’re paying rent on that kind of skeezy apartment, but you’re hardly ever there. And meanwhile, I have what will soon be a house of gracious comfort and amazing beauty. And space. And a genuine garage with room for a fancy Ford truck. And it’s pretty stupid for you to keep paying rent on that place when you could live at my place instead, and spend the money on something useful like beer and presents.” He fingered the pendant that hung around his neck.

Riley realized he was blinking stupidly. “You want…you want me to move in with you?”

Xander looked suddenly pale and horrified. “It’s fine. You don’t have to. It was just a stupid idea. I should know better than to start thinking. It always leads to nowhere good.”

Riley caught his wrist. “No, man! That’s not what I meant. Christ. I was just…you took me a little by surprise, is all. The two of us, we’re having fun, and we’re…well, I didn’t know you were taking it that seriously, that’s all.”

Xander tugged his arm away and buried his face in his hands. “Gods, I fucked up. I’m sorry. Can we just forget the last five minutes happened? Please? Can I…can I press the reset button?”

“No,” Riley said.

Xander looked up at him and then nodded. “Right. I’m… I’m really sorry.” He started to stand, but Riley rushed around and grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Wait! I just meant we’re not gonna pretend you didn’t say that because the answer is yes. Yes. I’d really like to live with you, Xander.”

Xander gaped slightly. “Really? You want to, and not because you feel sorry for me, or—“

“I really want to live with you, Xan, because I lo—I’m crazy about you, okay? I haven’t felt this way about anyone in a long time and…and it’s a good thing.”

There was a clatter behind them as Lorna set their plates down on the table. “Well, go ahead and get the kissing over with before your food gets cold,” she said.

 

***

 

They did go canoeing the following morning. Xander fell in the river twice. They had a great time. After a picnic lunch they packed up Riley’s belongings, which didn’t take very long at all, and took them over to Xander’s house. Their house. Then they had sex, loud, enthusiastic sex, that involved trying out a variety of positions on a variety of surfaces in several rooms. Just before they fell asleep in one another’s arms, it occurred to Riley that he had a _boyfriend_, an honest-to-God boyfriend, and he imagined the faces of the guys from the Initiative if they knew, and his high school football teammates, and his minister back in Coon Rapids. He laughed so hard that Xander bopped him on the head with a pillow.

Riley whistled his way through work the next day. And it was a good day. He sold an F-350, a pair of Explorers, and a Mustang. His boss was thrilled. “I guess that meeting was well worth it,” he said, clapping Riley on the back.

Xander got home before he did. When Riley walked in the door, the house smelled wonderful. “What’s the deal?” Riley asked, because as far as he knew, Xander didn’t cook.

“Housewarming.”

Riley did a double-take when he saw Xander, who was wearing a new pair of tight jeans and an equally tight sleeveless shirt that showed off his biceps nicely. Xander loosened Riley’s tie and slipped it over his head, then tossed it off to the side. He unbuttoned Riley’s shirt and pulled that off, too, so that Riley stood there in his undershirt and khakis. “Hungry?” Xander asked.

Riley was, and it was a good thing, too. Xander had barbecued a pair of enormous steaks, which was a good trick, because Riley didn’t even know they owned a grill. There were also fluffy baked potatoes with scoops of sour cream and fresh snipped chives. Riley had no idea where the hell the chives came from. The thickly sliced tomatoes tasted like they came from Riley’s mother’s garden. The Sam Adams was perfectly frosty cold. And for dessert, Xander produced bowls of double chocolate ice cream that was clearly homemade.

“What the hell?” Riley said as he pushed himself back from the table a little. He felt like he could just roll away, and Xander was grinning at him like a maniac. “How’d you do this?”

“Hey, contrary to popular opinion, I am capable of finding my way around a kitchen. And I wanted to show you how happy I am to have you here.”

“I believe you. You look like a happy man. But how’d you have time to do all this? Aren’t you tired?”

“Oh, no big deal. I quit my job this afternoon.”

Riley laughed. But then he saw the earnest look on Xander’s face. “Xander?”

“Yep. I handed in the old toolbelt.”

“But…but you love that job!”

Xander shrugged. “It’s not important anymore. _You’re_ important now, and if I spend all day hauling two by fours I won’t have time to take care of you properly.”

Riley was gaping like a fish. “But…I don’t need taking care of. I’m a grown man, remember?”

Xander chuckled and stood to clear away their plates. “I have certainly not forgotten you’re a man.” He rubbed his ass theatrically. He’d bottomed again the night before. “And I know you _can_ take care of yourself, but I don’t want you to have to. You work hard all day and you deserve to come home to a clean house and a good meal. And a well-rested Xan-man.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

Riley shook his head to clear it. Was he dreaming? Had he somehow wandered into an alternate universe?

Then Xander started washing the dishes, and that was _really_ disturbing.

Riley lumbered to his feet and grabbed Xander’s shoulder to turn him around. Xander stood there with his sudsy hands at his sides, grinning mildly. “Xander? What’s up? I mean really. This is…this is really weird. Even for us.”

“Nothing’s up, Ri. I’m just happy, that’s all.” He dried his hands on a towel, grabbed Riley’s hand, and dragged him into the bedroom. “Sorry the living room’s not set up yet. Tomorrow.” The bed was made up with about a zillion pillows and there was a new flat-screen tv on the wall. Xander pushed Riley onto the bed, knelt to remove his shoes, and hauled his feet up onto the bed. He pressed the remote into Riley’s hand and trotted away, only to return a moment later with a fresh beer. “Make yourself comfy while I clean up, okay?”

Riley could only nod dumbly.

But when Xander returned about fifteen minutes later, he looked devastated. “Gods, I’m really sorry, Ri. Please forgive me.” He knelt on the floor beside the bed.

Riley felt a little like he’d dropped through the rabbit hole. “What for, Xan? I mean, quitting is kinda weird, but if that’s what you really want…. I probably make enough to support us both.”

“It’s not that.” Xander’s shoulders were slumped and he was staring down at the floor.

All sorts of possibilities of what Xander might have done flashed through Riley’s head. None of them were pretty. “What is it?” he asked with considerable trepidation.

In a tiny voice, Xander said, “I lost your necklace. I had it on when I went to work, but I kinda forgot about it, and now it’s gone.”

Riley chest unclenched and he sighed with relief. “That’s okay, Xan. It’s no big deal. It was yours anyway.”

“But you gave it to me. It was a present from you and it was special and I lost it. Christ, I’m such a fuck-up!” To Riley’s horror, Xander began to sob.

Riley dropped down onto the floor beside him and folded Xander in his arms. Xander buried his face against Riley, crying as if his heart was broken. Riley felt completely stupid and useless and confused as he patted Xander’s back and made consoling little noises.

Finally, Xander pulled away slightly. He was still sniffling a little but the waterworks had stopped. “C’mon, Xan. What’s with you tonight?”

Xander wiped at his eye with the back of his hand. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m really afraid I’m going to screw this up. I…I love you!” And he started wailing again.

Despite the fact that Riley felt more than a little shell shocked, he managed to get Xander up off the floor. He unfastened Xander’s jeans and with a little cooperation peeled them off, and then pulled the shirt over Xander’s head. He planted a kiss on Xander’s damp cheek and steered him into bed. Even though it wasn’t very late, Riley felt exhausted, so he slipped into bed beside Xander and pulled the sheet up. Just before he covered them both, though, he noticed something on Xander’s chest, something he hadn’t seen as Riley was undressing him. Riley leaned over and clicked on the bedside light to get a better look.

In the exact center of Xander’s chest there was what appeared to be a faint tattoo. It was in the shape of an arrow, and there were tiny lines on it in some foreign alphabet.

“Oh, shit,” Riley said.

 [Part Two](http://whichclothes.livejournal.com/141955.html)


	2. 2

Title: Don't Call It Love   
Part: 2 of 2   
Pairing: Xander/Riley   
Rating: NC-17   
Disclaimer: I'm not Joss   
Summary: Post-series, ignoring comics. Sequel to Wichita. Riley isn't sure how serious their relationship is, and then a demon gets involved.   
AN: For maleslashminis . Written for delilah_joy , who wanted this: Lust spell (or something similar), Xander working construction, Giles involved in the story somehow. The fic's in two parts due to length. Thank you to sentine for the wonderful banner!

 

 

 

Part Two

It was no good trying to talk to Xander about it. If Riley tried, Xander would start crying again or loudly proclaiming his love. The worst, though, was when he called himself names, and Riley had to hold Xander's fists to keep him from hitting himself. In the end, Riley remembered his mother's old saying that sleeping on it might help and couldn't hurt. He left a message at the dealership that he wouldn't be in the next day—he had to fake a cough—and then turned out the lights and held Xander, and they both fell into a restless slumber.

But things weren't any better in the morning. Xander insisted on making him breakfast in bed and begged to be allowed to give Riley a blowjob. When Riley tried to refuse, Xander was despondent, convinced that Riley didn't want him anymore. Out of desperation and the need to think in peace for a few moments, Riley faked a craving for a roast beef sandwich from Arby's. The nearest Arby's was fifteen minutes away, so that would give him at least a half hour. Xander was eager to meet his demand—he kissed Riley, promised to be right back, and zoomed out the door.

Riley racked his brain over how to pull them out of this hole he'd dug. The only solution he could think of made him almost physically ill. But when the clock kept ticking and he couldn't come up with anything else, he swallowed his nausea and found Xander's cell phone, which Xander had left, as usual, sitting on the kitchen counter.

"Xander?" came the achingly familiar voice on the other end.

"Um…not exactly."

There were several thousand miles of silence, then, "Riley?"

"Hey, Buffy."

"Why are you—Oh my God, something's wrong with Xander! What's wrong with him? Was it a demon?" She sounded slightly hysterical, and, oddly, that comforted Riley. It confirmed that despite their differences, Buffy still cared about Xander.

"No, no demon. He's, uh…We're…He and I…."

"You can stop stammering, Ri. Xan told me you two were an item. Not exactly what I expected, but hey, if you're both happy."

"He told you about us?" This wasn't why he'd called her, but that news had momentarily distracted him. Riley didn't care who knew, but he'd assumed that Xander would want to keep their relationship secret.

"Yep. He said he's pretty much falling for you. You better be treating him right, Riley."

Riley felt dizzy again. "He said that?"

"Well, duh. Why'd you think he was hanging around you? You know, I always suspected he had a man crush on you way back in Sunnydale."

Riley realized then that Xander must have called Buffy after the necklace had taken effect. "Look, um, we kind of have a problem here. A magic problem. I was wondering if you could help." He pictured a furious vampire Slayer making her way to Kansas and kicking his ass for accidentally enchanting her old friend, and he swallowed hard.

"I'm not so much with the magics, Ri. That's really Willow's thing. And she's incommunicado now—some sort of coven retreat thingy. Can it wait a few weeks?"

Riley imagined even a few more days of Xander under the necklace's spell and shuddered. "Um, it's kind of urgent, actually."

"Hmm. Maybe Giles can help. He's pretty good with that stuff, too."

"Yeah, okay."

She gave him Giles's number and he scribbled it on the back of a Chinese restaurant menu. Before she hung up, though, she said, "Riley? How serious are you about Xan? Because I swear, if you break his heart—"

With complete honesty, he replied, "I'm dead serious, Buff."

 

***

 

Giles had always made him kind of uncomfortable. When Riley had been dating Buffy, the guy had given off pretty heavy disapproving father vibes. And Giles hadn't been happy at all over the whole Initiative thing. But the old guy did seem to know a lot, and Riley really didn't have many options. He punched in the numbers.

"Rupert Giles."

"Uh, hi. This is Riley Finn. Remember me?"

After a brief pause, Giles said, "Yes, of course."

"Buffy gave me your number. I was…I was kind hoping you could help me out." After that, Riley explained what was going on as succinctly as possible. There were a lot of "Dear Lords" on the other end of the phone, a few shocked silences, and one, "Oh, for Christ's sake!"

Just as Riley heard the truck pulling into the driveway, Giles said, "Right, then. I'll look into this matter. I trust you won't take advantage of him in this condition?"

"No! I…Xander's important to me, okay?"

"I should hope so." Giles sighed. "I'll ring you as soon as I have information."

"Thanks, man."

Riley hung up just as Xander walked in the door, his hands full with what looked like a half dozen Arby's bags.

 

***

 

The next two days were difficult. Riley faked a cold not only to his boss, but also to Xander, so that Xander would stop throwing himself at Riley. But then Xander wouldn't let him get out of bed and insisted on waiting on him hand and foot, bringing him chicken soup and orange juice and NyQuil and toast. Xander gave him a sponge bath and massaged his feet. He bought him a bouquet of blue-dyed carnations and a mylar "Get Well Soon" balloon. Riley felt restless and guilty, but at least he wasn't screwing Xander under false circumstances.

Riley's phone rang early Thursday morning. Riley glanced at the number and then sent Xander away again on another errand, this time for a particular James Patterson book Riley said he had to have. As soon as Xander drove off, Riley called Giles back.

"Please tell me you've found a cure," Riley said.

"You mean you're not enjoying Xander's complete love and devotion?"

"This is way over the top, man. This morning he was talking about learning to sew so he could tailor my clothes himself. I'd love it if he were serious about me, but not like this. This isn't the real Xan."

"You do realize that when you undo the spell, he will remember the past several days? He may be very angry with you, and he will certainly be embarrassed. He might break things off with you completely."

Riley swallowed. Those thoughts had been constantly echoing through his head already. "Yeah. I know."

Giles made a small sound that might have meant approval. "Very well. The counter-spell is quite simple, actually. Xander must be, erm, completely naked. Draw a circle and sit him in the middle of it, then recite the words of the hex backwards, three times."

Riley carefully transcribed the words he was supposed to say onto a piece of note paper. "Thanks, man," he said when he was done. "I really, really appreciate this."

"You're welcome. You're doing the right thing."

Riley sighed. "I know."

"And Riley? Good luck. I do hope things work out for both of you."

After he hung up the phone, Riley stuffed some of his clothing in a big cardboard box. He didn't have time to pack up all his stuff, not now, but he could take the most essential things with him and come back later for the rest, after things had calmed down. If things ever calmed down.

He rummaged around in Xander's pile of miscellaneous tools until he found a piece of blue chalk, and he used the chalk to draw a circle on the bare floorboards in the living room. Xander hadn't installed the Pergo there yet; he'd said he didn't want to disturb Riley with the noise. The circle complete, Riley put the chalk away and waited, clutching his scrap of notepaper in his hand.

"Hey, honey, I'm ho—Hey! What are you doing out of bed? I want you right back between those sheets, young man, and I didn't mean that in a sexy way at all." Xander waved his bag of books at Riley in a mock-threatening manner.

"Yeah, uh, I'm feeling a lot better, actually."

Xander set the bag on the table. "Really? Like how much better? Letting me at that big cock of yours better?"

Riley gulped and silently told the body part in question to stand down. "How 'bout if you take off your clothes?"

Xander grinned and began tearing off his clothing so quickly that the shirt actually ripped. Within seconds he stood in front of Riley, bare, beautiful, and hard. Riley chose to ignore the way his own body was blatantly ignoring orders. He could still see the faint markings of the necklace marring Xander's chest.

"Come here, Xan," he said, and Xander followed him obediently into the living room. "Will you sit in the middle of that, please?" Riley pointed at the circle.

Xander's eyebrows flew up. "This is new. Is it some sort of kinky game? Interrogate the prisoner, maybe? 'Cause that'd be okay with me."

"Um. Something like that."

Xander plopped himself down in the center of the chalk marks. "What do you want me to do, cruel captor? 'Cause all you're getting from me is name, rank, and serial number, no matter how hard you try."

Riley rolled his eyes. "Just sit still for a few minutes, okay?"

Xander nodded. He smiled up at Riley, his eye sparkling with happiness and love, and it broke Riley's heart to know he'd never see that expression from Xander again. Riley's throat was thick with tears. "Listen, Xan. You need to know this. I had no fucking idea the necklace would do this to you. I never would have done this to you on purpose."

Xander tilted his head in puzzlement. "The necklace? Do what?"

"Never mind," said Riley, and he began to recite the words Giles had given him.

At first nothing happened. But by the second time he said the words, Xander's mouth had fallen open and he was staring at Riley in shock. Riley stopped after the third incantation, and then they both looked at Xander's chest as it glowed with a bright purple light. Then Xander cried out once—more from surprise than pain, Riley hoped—and the glow settled into a necklace around his throat. Xander reached up and with a savage tug, tore the cord free. He flung the thing away from himself, and it clattered loudly against a wall before falling on the floor.

Then they just looked at one another in silence.

Eventually, Xander stood.

"Xander, I—"

"Look. Just go away. Please." Xander's voice was tight as a bowstring and his jaw worked as he turned his head away.

"All right," Riley said very quietly. He shoved the paper in his pocket and went into the bedroom, where his cardboard box of clothes was waiting. He had to walk through the living room to leave, and Xander was still standing in the middle of the circle. They didn't say anything else to each other before Riley left.

 

***

 

Riley's boss was ecstatic. With nothing to go home to except his crappy, empty apartment, Riley was putting in extra long hours at the dealership. He created an imaginary persona for himself there—good old Riley Finn, veteran and former farmboy, probably with a cute little blonde wife at home and a couple of rugrats. That Riley Finn said "shucks" and flirted just a tiny bit with all the female customers, while he subtly reinforced the idea that the male customers were all manly men who needed big, manly trucks with big, manly engines. He sold a lot of vehicles.

And in the evenings he had a drink or three at a bar near his place –not Lord's, never Lord's—and watched sports on the bar's TV, and then went home and had a few more drinks and fell asleep.

He pictured his entire lifetime slipping by like that, maybe an anonymous fuck thrown in here or there for variety's sake, until he keeled over from a heart attack or cancer or cirrhosis. Poor old unloved Riley Finn. Hell, maybe he'd just die from an overdose of self-pity.

And then one day in August, just as the setting sun was painting the sky in Technicolor reds and oranges, when the air felt so thick and hot it was hard to breathe, a beat-up old Chevy pulled into the lot.

Xander Harris climbed out. He was wearing a pair of frayed, paint-splattered jeans and a faded green t-shirt. There was an indentation around his hair from wearing his hard-hat all day. He looked a little on the thin side, Riley thought, like he hadn't been eating very well, and the eye not covered by the patch had a dark smudge underneath. Still, the sight of him stole Riley's breath away, and as Xander sauntered over with a small smile on his face, Riley was positive his heart was going to beat right through his chest.

"Hey there," Xander said. He glanced off to the side, where a couple of the other salesmen were watching like hungry wolves. He stuck out his hand and Riley shook it.

"I see you got your job back," Riley said, and wished he hadn't.

But Xander only grinned. "Yep. Site went all to hell without me. Boss gave me a promotion and a hefty raise to boot. You're looking at the assistant site manager."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks. And I figured a man of my stature ought to be driving something better than that old POS. Thought maybe I'd consider a shiny new Ford. In red. I always wanted a red truck."

Riley couldn't help but smile back. "Yeah? What were you thinking of? A big old 450?"

"Naw. No need for me to prove my manhood that way. A 250 would do just fine."

"Hang on, then." Xander waited while Riley trotted inside to the key board, where he snatched a set of keys. Back outside, he led Xander to a truck that was, conveniently enough, red.

They climbed inside with Riley in the passenger seat. Riley handed the keys to Xander. "Why don't you start her up and get the AC cranking?" Xander did. "Now, this is the Lariat. It's got four wheel drive, a 6.8 liter engine, and the longer eight foot box, which is good when you need to haul lumber. Good towing capacity, too. This one's vermillion. We've got a royal red metallic, too, but I think you're more of a vermillion kind of guy."

"It's very pretty."

"Why don't we take her for a run?"

Xander pulled the truck into gear and then steered them out of the parking lot. They drove around side streets for ten or fifteen minutes, neither of them talking. Being this close to Xander without touching was pure torture, but it was torture Riley would willingly endure for the privilege of being near him.

As the night darkened around them, Xander pulled into a strip-mall parking lot and cut the engine. He looked over at Riley. "Nice truck."

"I can get you a hell of a deal on it, too."

"Yeah? Will you throw in the undercoating and the extended warranty?"

"Sure thing."

"And what about the salesman? Is he included with the deal, too?"

Riley stopped breathing altogether.

"Look, Riley. I know I made a total ass out of myself, but—"

"You didn't do anything, Xander. It was that goddamn necklace."

"Yeah, whatever. I was the one that went all Stepford Wife. And I'm sorry."

Riley violated his own no-touch policy by twisting in his seat and grasping Xander's shoulder. "Really, man. You have no call to apologize. I'm the one who bought you a present from a demon."

Xander snorted. "I just cannot escape my demons, can I? Okay, no more apologies from either of us. That's not why I came to see you anyway. I wanted you to know—that necklace made me pretty crazy, and I did a lot of fucked-up things. I scared you away. But here's the thing—it wasn't all the hocus pocus. I still would've asked you to move in. I would have taken things slower, and I would have bypassed the flowers and the groveling at your feet, but I was kinda hoping that we had something and that eventually—pretty soon, maybe—we could have something serious."

"You, you…." Riley sputtered hopelessly.

"It's okay. You don't have to sweep me up in your arms and ride off into the sunset with me. But I miss you, Riley Finn. Could we go back to the way things were, maybe? Dinner at Lord's and TV watching on the couch and maybe the occasional sleepover?"

Riley shook his head and then finally found his voice. "No. I don't want to go back to the way things were."

Xander closed his eye and nodded slowly. "Okay. I had to give it a try." He reached for the ignition, but Riley reached out and grabbed his hand, brought it up against his own chest, right near his heart, clutched it there tightly with both of his own.

"I don't want you to be my fuck buddy or my friend with benefits. I'm…okay, I'm not any good at all with the flowery speeches. So let me tell it to you plain. I love you, Xander Harris."

Xander blinked at him for a moment and then gently extricated his hand. He put that hand behind Riley's head and threaded his fingers through Riley's hair. His grip was so tight it almost hurt. It felt wonderful. With a smile that grew slowly but eventually lit up his whole face, Xander said, "Let's go hammer out the details of our deal."

 

\---fin---


End file.
